Section 108.15. Benefits for public employees.

 

(1g)   Definition. In this section, “state" includes all state constitutional offices, all branches of state government, all agencies, departments, boards, commissions, councils, committees, and all other parts or subdivisions of state government however organized or designated.

(1r)   Benefit payments. Benefits shall be payable from the fund to any public employee, if unemployed and otherwise eligible, based on employment by any government unit that is an employer covered by this chapter.

(2)   Reimbursement financing. The state and every other government unit which is an employer subject to this chapter shall be subject to all its provisions except that, in lieu of contributions under ss. 108.17 and 108.18 , it shall reimburse the fund for benefits charged to its account.

(3)   Election of contribution financing. Any government unit other than the state may, in lieu of the reimbursement requirement of sub. (2) , elect contribution financing under ss. 108.17 and 108.18 as of the beginning of any calendar year, subject to the following requirements:

(a) It shall file a written notice to that effect with the department before the beginning of such year except that if the government unit became newly subject to this chapter as of the beginning of such year, it shall file the notice within 30 days after the date of mailing to it a written notification by the department that it is subject to this chapter. Such election shall remain in effect for not less than 3 calendar years.

(b) A government unit may thereafter terminate its election of contribution financing effective at the end of any calendar year by filing a written notice to that effect with the department before the close of such year.

(c) No election or termination of election of contribution financing is effective if the government unit, at the time of filing notice of such election or termination of election, is delinquent under s. 108.22 .

(d) If a government unit elects contribution financing for any calendar year after the first calendar year it becomes newly subject to this chapter, it shall be liable to reimburse the fund for any benefits based on prior employment. If a government unit terminates its election of contribution financing, ss. 108.17 and 108.18 shall apply to employment in the prior calendar year, but after all benefits based on such prior employment have been charged to its contribution account any balance remaining in such account shall be transferred to the balancing account.

(e) Each time a government unit elects or reelects contribution financing its initial contribution rate shall be 2.5 percent on its payroll for each of the first 3 calendar years in which such election or reelection is in effect. If a government unit terminates its election of contribution financing it may not reelect contribution financing within a period of 3 calendar years thereafter.

(4)   Reimbursement accounts for government units.

(a) For each government unit covered by this chapter which is liable for reimbursement to the fund, the fund's treasurer shall maintain a reimbursement “employer account", as a subaccount of the fund's balancing account.

(b) Each government unit's reimbursement account shall be duly charged with any benefits based on work for such unit, and shall be duly credited with any reimbursement paid by or for it to the fund, and with any benefit overpayment from the account recovered by the department. Whenever the account of a government unit is credited with an overpayment under this paragraph, the department shall, at the close of any month, refund that amount to the government unit upon request, after deducting the amount of any reimbursements to the account of such government unit which have been billed but not paid.

(c) Any government unit may at any time make payments into its reimbursement account in the fund.

(d) Whenever a government unit's reimbursement account has a positive net balance, no reimbursement of the benefits charged to that account is required under this section.

(e) Whenever a government unit's reimbursement account has a negative balance, any benefits chargeable to such account shall be duly paid and charged thereto; and reimbursements covering the total negative balance thus resulting shall become due pursuant to this section.

(f) The write-off provisions of s. 108.16 (7) (c) do not apply to the reimbursement account of any government unit.

(g) If any government unit covered by this chapter requests the department to maintain separate accounts for parts of such unit which are separately operated or financed, the department may do so for such periods and under such conditions as it may from time to time determine.

(5)   Reimbursements and contributions.

(a) Each government unit which is an “employer" shall include in its budget for each budgetary period an estimated amount for payment of the contributions required by ss. 108.17 and 108.18 or reimbursements required by this section, including in each case any contribution or reimbursement remaining unpaid for the current or any prior period.

(b) The department shall monthly bill each government unit for any reimbursements required under this section, and any reimbursement thus billed shall be due and shall be paid by such government unit within 20 days after the date such bill is mailed to it by the department.

(c) Reimbursements due hereunder from budget subdivisions of the state shall be paid pursuant to sub. (7) .

(d) Reimbursements due under this section or contributions due under ss. 108.17 and 108.18 from government units shall, if they remain unpaid after their due date, be collected under sub. (6) or under any other applicable provision of law.

(6)   Delinquent payments.

(a) Any reimbursement duly billed under this section, or contribution payable under s. 108.17 or 108.18 , which remains unpaid after its applicable due date is a “delinquent payment" under s. 108.22 (1) (a) .

(b) Whenever a government unit's “delinquent payments", including interest and penalties thereon, total more than the benefits charged to such unit's reimbursement account for the 6 most recent months, or contributions, including interest and penalties thereon, are delinquent for at least 2 quarters, the department shall so determine under s. 108.10 .

(c) If such delinquency is finally established under s. 108.10 , the fund's treasurer shall, in case such unit receives a share of any state tax or any type of state aid, certify to the secretary of administration the existence and amount of such delinquency.

(d) Upon receipt of such certification, the secretary of administration shall withhold, from each sum of any such tax or aid thereafter payable to the government unit, until the delinquency is satisfied, the lesser of the following amounts:

1. The delinquent amount thus certified; or

2. One-half the sum otherwise payable to such government unit.

(e) Any amount withheld by the secretary of administration under par. (d) shall be paid by the secretary of administration to the fund's treasurer, who shall duly credit such payment toward satisfying the delinquency.

(7)   State compliance and appropriations.

(b) Each reimbursement payable by the state under this section shall be duly paid to the fund, upon filing by the fund's treasurer of a certificate to the department of administration specifying the amount of reimbursement due and the appropriation apparently chargeable.

(c) Each of the state's budget subdivisions shall have each such reimbursement amount charged to and deducted from its proper appropriation, unless payment is authorized under ss. 20.865 and 20.928 .

(8)   Notice and reports. Each government unit which is an employer shall give such suitable benefit notices to its employees as the department may direct, and shall make employment and wage reports to the department under the same conditions as apply to other employers.

(9)   Group reimbursement accounts. If any group of government units which have not elected contribution financing file a joint request, they shall be treated as one employer for the purposes of this chapter under the conditions of this subsection.

(a) The group will be treated as one employer for at least 3 calendar years and the group may be discontinued or dissolved at the beginning of any subsequent calendar year by filing advance written notice thereof with the department before the beginning of such subsequent calendar year.

(b) The members of the group are jointly and severally liable for any required reimbursements together with any interest thereon and any tardy filing fees.

(c) The group shall be dissolved at the beginning of any calendar year after the required 3 calendar years of participation if any member of the group files written notice with the department in advance of such calendar year of its intended withdrawal from the group.

1971 c. 53 ; 1973 c. 247 ; 1975 c. 343 ; 1977 c. 133 ; 1981 c. 36 s. 45 ; 1983 a. 8 , 27 ; 1985 a 17; 1987 a. 38 ; 1993 a. 492 ; 1995 a. 118 ; 1999 a. 15 ; 2003 a. 33 ; 2007 a. 59 ; 2015 a. 196 .